TOM Cruise once told a colleague in Top Gun: "I feel the need, the need
for speed!" Well, I guess director Jan De Bont obviously knew what he
meant, for this high octane crowd-pleaser was the surprise package of a blockbuster-filled
summer of 1994 (when it went up against the likes of Arnie's True Lies).

That it emerged as one of the action films of the year, if not the 90s, helping
to cement Keanu Reeves position as an action hero (he had already turned heads
in Point Break), is no mean feat, given that it is held together by the flimsiest
of plots, contains some truly banal dialogue and is really only a thinly-conceived
excuse for one set piece after another.

The premise is simple, a madman (Dennis Hopper) bids to hold LA to ransom
by placing bombs in various places. His first attempt, in a lift, is foiled
by Reeves's gutsy SWAT team member, Jack Travers, prompting a lethal cat and
mouse game between the two protagonists.

Hopper, in a bid to get even, places a bomb on a bus which is triggered when
the vehicle gets above 50mph and detonated when it dips back below. The only
person who can stop it is, of course, Travers, who hops on board and enlists
the help of Sandra Bullock's equally feisty passenger to drive the out-of-control
vehicle and prevent the seemingly inevitable.

Trying to figure a way out of the ensuing mess is Jeff Daniels, Travers's
partner, while the remaining passengers fight, bicker and generally bond with
each other.

From its
blistering opening sequence, through to the moment where audiences will believe
that a bus can fly, Speed seldom lets up, setting a benchmark for action movies
ever since. It's crass in places, corny as hell, but one hell of a ride, fuelled
by believable performances from its stars - Reeves, in particular, shines,
while Hopper makes a suitably insane villain.

First-time director De Bont cut his teeth as cameraman on the likes of Die
Hard and Basic Instinct and, here,
he is let off the leash, throwing in one giddy sequence after another, and
more explosions and carnage than you could possibly imagine - one wonders
why, given the bill the LAPD eventually must have faced, the cops didn't simply
pay up and have done with!

Ultimately, Speed goes a little too far - the third action segment, featuring
yet another bomb on an underground train - stretches things a little beyond
belief; but it is kept mercifully short and maintains the adrenaline rush;
as well as allowing Reeves and the incredibly cute Bullock the opportunity
for that long overdue snog.

Pop quiz, hotshots! How long will it be before you make the Speed DVD part
of your collection?